Let’s relax about original tunes! By Muriel Johnstone B.Mus., L.A.R.M. Muriel Johnstone was RSCDS Music Director for 25 years, responsible for Books 28 to 42. As a distinguished class musician, she followed in her mother’s footsteps. As a composer, she has given us sublime tunes such as her 60th Summer School. In this article Muriel draws on her research and vast experience to throw fresh light on the issue of original tunes. What does ‘original’ mean? When an expression such as ‘original tune’ is used often enough, it becomes accepted as the correct term to describe the music used for a particular dance. If ‘original’ means ‘present or existing from the beginning, first or earliest’, it is clear that many of our so-called ‘original tunes’ are not original. In the RSCDS we have come to a point where far too much credence is placed on using the term ‘original tune’.
The historic background In Books 1 – 21 there are many examples of dances with their own tune, ie the title of the tune is the same as the title of the dance. Where these tunes originated or where they were first published is key to the argument that they were the original tune used for the dance in question. The early 19th century saw a proliferation in the production of printed dance
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many more music and dance publishers emerge. A popular country dance tune of this era might be published in a dozen or more collections, each with different instructions, eg The Favourite Dances of 1812 composed by Nathaniel Gow as performed at his Annual Ball in George Street Assembly Rooms the 3rd of March. The link between ‘tune’ and ‘figures’ that may once have existed for printed dances had waned. Dancers of the early 19th century were encouraged to invent fresh figure sequences each time they danced. The process of selecting the tune and figures to be danced was known as ‘calling’ and was usually the responsibility of the 1st couple. Couples would take turns to ‘lead off’ a country dance from the top of the set; the Master of Ceremonies would liaise between the calling couple and the leader of the band. It is unclear at what date this convention began, but it was widely adopted by the start of the 19th century.
The term ‘original tune’ music. While a handful of London-based publishers had been responsible for most of the dance publications of the late 18th century, the 1790s through the 1810s saw
There is no mention in any of the early RSCDS books of the term ‘original tune’. A tune is often described as ‘own tune’, which suggests, correctly in most cases, that the dance instructions and the
